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Maake Kemoeatu headed to injured reserve

By
Rick Maese

The Redskins have lost another defensive lineman. The team is expected to place starting nose tackle Maake Kemoeatu on injured reserve with a shoulder injury.

Anthony Bryant started in Kemoeatu's place in Sunday's loss at Dallas and played the majority of the game. The team has brought back defensive lineman Darrion Scott to take Kemoeatu's place on the 53-man roster. Scott, who is listed at 6-foot-3 and 310 pounds, was with the Redskins in training camp. The Ohio State product was with the Vikings from 2004-07 and spent last season playing for Jim Haslett with the UFL's Florida Tuskers.

Kemoeatu missed all of 2009 with an Achilles injury and now will be out for the final two games of this season.

The Redskins signed Kemoeatu, hoping he'd fully recovered from the injury. The results were mixed, though; Kemoeatu will finish the season with 40 total tackles -- 28 of which were unassisted. Anchoring the team's 3-4 defense, he did not notch a sack in his return to the NFL.

The Redskins also placed defensive end Phillip Daniels on season-ending injured reserve this week with an abdomen injury.

The Redskins also released offensive lineman Jacob Bender from the practice squad and replaced him with tackle Xavier Fulton, who was a fifth-round draft pick by Tampa Bay in 2009. Defensive lineman Rashaad Duncan, who's spent parts of the past two seasons with the Bucs and the Buffalo Bills, will take Rob Jackson's spot on the practice squad. Jackson is replacing Daniels' on the 53-man roster.

So, just a couple of crazy thoughts about what the Redskins might want to do in the offseason.......

Free Agency: Now is the time to try to restock the offensive line and defense with first-time free agents. Diesel 44 offered up this starting point earlier today:
______________
Repeat after me..
Ryan Kalil C
Ryan Harris RT
Carl Nicks OG
Tamba Hali OLB
David Harris ILB
Posted by: Diesel44 | December 21, 2010 2:20 PM
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OK, good starting point here. Each of these guys (or an equivalent) should be available for "not-stupid" money. Got to add a NT to this group. Ngata has been suggested, but the Ravens won't let that happen. Find the best NT available in FA -- and pay him what you have to to get him here. After that, add to this list with additional help for the secondary.

Based on the McNabb debacle, Shanahan is going to to go for a QB in the draft -- Grossman will start next year until either Beck or the draftee are ready to take over. We need a QB to develop, I'll grant that -- but we DON'T need to use our first or second rounder to get him. Get whatever you can for AH and DM -- hopefully one of these will produce at least a 3rd/4th rounder, and use that to get Ricky Stanzi out of Iowa. Played in a pro-style offense, should be gettable in the 3rd or 4th. Add in a late round pick or two to the 3rd/4th to move up, if you have to.
Everything else in the draft goes to building FOUNDATION (Foundation, in my dictionary, means Off and Def line, followed by every other position on the defense). Start with either line (best available player on either side) with the first and second rounders, take best available at any foundation position with every other pick that you have.
Other than Shanahan's developmental QB, spend NO draft picks on RB/WR/TE/glittery toys. Everything needs to concentrate around building the foundation for the future.

Now let's think about trades. If there are players on this roster that others are interested in (and that don't fit the O or D scheme here), trade them for FUTURE draft picks. I'm talking 2012 and beyond. Start building the abundance of picks in the future years -- similar to the way the hated Patriots do it-- so that you have manueverability in the future.

This may be the best year in recent history for free agents. Use it to fill immediate gaps in the foundation. Get as much as you can for AH and DM, package it as necessary to get a developmental QB in the mid-rounds. Select the best available foundation player that you can with every other pick. Trade 'waste' on your team for future draft picks.

The Cowpies, who had 7 sacks in their previous 6 games, had 5 against Grossman on Sunday. Yes, 4 TDs is impressive, but let's not kid ourselves into thinking any QB will last long getting sacked that much.

If QB is a question mark, and it is--part of the reason has to be because Skins QBs are spending way too much time on their backs.

those usually positions that are drafted in later rounds... they are not "skilled" position...

Posted by: jimmy_the_crickett | December 22, 2010 11:13 AM

Uhhh...

The first two rounds are a great place to get a dominant NT. Many of the first year opening game starters are taken in rounds 1 & 2. I'm looking in the 2nd round for someone like Phil Taylor 6-4 340 from Baylor.

C/G can wait until rounds 3 & 4... Oh wait! We don't have any 3r or 4th rounders this year. F'n awesome!

I think O-line is still a bigger need than D-line. As suffering as the DL has been, I think you build champions with O-lines. Orakpo is close to a best-case-scenario as a draft pick, and I would still rather have Oher.

Most good pass rushers have a relatively short prime. Good O-lineman last a decade or more. The Skins need to look OL in the first round, unless they can weasel their way into a franchise QB. The scouts need to earn their paychecks and find a NT in the later rounds.

C/G can wait until rounds 3 & 4... Oh wait! We don't have any 3r or 4th rounders this year. F'n awesome!

Posted by: edvar | December 22, 2010 11:30 AM

Sadly this is too true, however there will be some nice FAs (see Diesel's list)that will still allow us to go NT in secound and QB in first (cuz anyone who thinks that MS is not drafting a QB in 1st or 2nd has not ben paying attention) or OLB/DL 1st/QB 2nd.

"He'll often select guys coming off injuries, feeling he's getting a guy who, if healthy, would have gone higher and therefore has higher value."

I don't believe his thinking here is limited to the draft.

We've see him covet or keep injured/injury prone vets like Jammal Brown, Maake Kemoeatu, Malcolm Kelly, and Ryan Torain, all with significant injury histories. Clearly, Torain has been awesome when he's playing. Unfortunately, some of these injury prone players are the types that break down as the season wears on.

What about figuring a way to land Terrence Cody from the Ravens? That kid is a monster and young...

I think we try and get two OL key pieces from the same college team, like we did back in the day with Grimm and May, Pitt has two solid guys this year in the draft again...just saying. They already know how to play together, worked before.

Only trades I hope to accomplish are getting AH out and Dmac out, cuz the trust is gone with both. I dont mind if Dmac comes back for another year, molds a young guy and we have a better oline and running game to support that...but I doubt it.

Only trades I hope to accomplish are getting AH out and Dmac out, cuz the trust is gone with both. I dont mind if Dmac comes back for another year, molds a young guy and we have a better oline and running game to support that...but I doubt it.

Draft Dish: Arkansas' Mallett not ready for NFL, should return to school

Dec. 19, 2010 Print it

By Russ Lande

A quick look at hot topics in NFL personnel departments surrounding prospects for the 2011 draft:

ï¿½ There has been a ton of hype regarding Arkansas junior QB Ryan Mallett with many analysts calling him a likely first-rounder and possible top-10 pick in '11. Such talk was not based on film study.

After breaking down all of Mallett's film, we came away disappointed. His play actually got worse, not better, this season.

After consulting with scouts from several NFL teams, who agreed with our evaluation, Mallett is an overrated prospect who definitely should return to Arkansas for his senior season.

Mallett, (6-6, 238) has excellent height, rare arm strength and flashed good accuracy downfield. However, he still must prove he has the quick mind to succeed in the NFL. He also must accelerate his deliberate delivery to keep defensive backs from breaking so quickly on his passes.

Basically, he throws too many interceptions. We believe a big part of the problem is that he doesn't read coverages well and is slow to react to shifting defensive personnel. When his mechanics are spot on, he can be accurate and lead his receivers as well as any college QB. When under duress, his footwork becomes poor and his passes start flying high, low and wide.

Bottom line: Mallett is not yet an elite QB prospect and he certainly will be disappointed should he enter the '11 draft.

•Linebacker Rob Jackson (formerly known as defensive end Rob Jackson) is signed to the active roster. Jackson was a seventh-round draft pick for the Redskins in the 2008 draft. He joins Kareem Moore and Fred Davis in trying to redeem a draft class that can at this point charitably be called star-crossed: of the team's ten selections in that draft, two are on injured reserve (Chris Horton and Malcolm Kelly) and five are no longer on the roster (Devin Thomas, Chad Rinehart, Justin Tryon, Durant Brooks, and Colt Brennan).
•Defensive lineman Darrion Scott is also signed to the active roster. Scott was with the Redskins through training camp; here's his college highlight that I linked to the last time he was signed.
•Offensive tackle Xavier Fulton joins the practice squad; he was a fifth round pick of the Buccaneers in 2009 and got quite a bit of playing time during that preseason before suffering an injury that knocked him out for the entire year. Since then, he's spent time with the practice squads of the Colts and 49ers.
•And defensive lineman Rashaad Duncan fills out the last practice squad spot. He was an undrafted free agent in 2009 who has bounced around to a few practice squads but has yet to crack an active roster.

Shanahan has realized he made a mistake with McNabb and moved on, maybe it's time he realizes that the 3-4 was a mistake too. We don't have the personnel for a 3-4 even if we drafted a NT in the first round; wrong ends & linebackers for that system. But we do have pretty fair 4-3 players. Big FA year or not, we are not going to be able to fill all those gaps with FAs and only 2 draft spots in the first 4 rounds. Don't forget, those FAs will be looking for top $$ and there are 31 other teams looking to fill spots and DC may not be tops on everyones list considering the history of the likes of mcNabb and Hanesworth here,

His only workout that he did not finish in the top 10 was the bench press which is most likely due to his shoulder injury that he was having surgery on the week following the combine. He still posted an impressive 27 reps, only 3 away from a top 10 finish.

Fulton was the top rated offensive tackle from the Big Ten Conference.

I don't know what was worse, the linebacker or lineman play in the new 3-4. Without Landry tne safety play has been horrible too. I'd pick up some fast, agressive 3-4 linebackers before d-line. Add an agressive safety and let K. Barnes play more at corner.

DikShuttle,
Grossman fits that mold of injury prone players Shanny likes, too. There's no reason to believe Shanahan is uncomfortable going into the season with an injury prone #1 QB, based on his history with other injury prone players. There's also no reason the believe Grossman can last a full season.

We can argue O-Line vs. D-Line all we want. but the Skins are gonna go QB in the first round - even if it means jumping into the top 3 to go there.

McNabb was supposed to buy the Skins a 3-4 year window to stalk, attain, and nurture the right QB. But now that's out.

So now Grossman is in there, to see if he can be Steve DeBerg next year. This is the team scrambling to find their Plan B, which is an accelerated search for a franchise QB.

You know Shanny doesn't plan on having any more losing seasons, so he has to figure this is the best draft position they will have for years to come. They cannot go into 2011 with Rex as starter and John Beck as the QB Of The Future. Shanny has to make a move, and this draft is his window - even if it costs him Landry or Orakpo to get there.

I am betting the Skins go after a QB with their top pick in the draft and stock the O-Line by making a hard push for Logan Mankins in Free Agency.

The Skins also presumably have Mike Williams coming back next year, and Shanny thought enough of him to give him a 2 year deal before the blood clots took him out. And Jammal Brown is a former All-Pro who is either going to be healthier and closer to past form next year or who will probably be gone. If it's the former, he is another piece to the puzzle.

Nobody clamored to change the defensive alignment when the D slipped to 30th overall in 2006. Just sayin'...

The alignment isn't the problem...not having the personnel to run it is the problem. They gambled that they could make a smooth transition relying on Carter at OLB, Kemo at NT and Haynesworth to actually, you know, play like he cares. Didn't work out that way. Now you assess your needs and move forward with a plan.

To say that "we should've kept the 4-3" is say the D wasn't broken. We didn't give up a lot of yards last year, but we gave up a helluva lot of 4th quarter leads and very seldom took the ball away or sacked the QB. The D this year has certainly disappointed in most weeks, but they've taken the ball away MUCH more than they ever did under Blache.

Truth be told, there really isn't a good time to change defenses. You make the change and work towards making it work. Shanahan screwed a lot up this year...IMO, switching to the 3-4 wasn't one of 'em.

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